It's been a while...

Remember my post about my bad luck? Well the T on my keyboard keeps sticking, making posting updates on our lives a little more time consuming! I keep going back and finding words with missing T's, sorry about that. Oh well. It has also been a very busy couple of weeks for us. There has been much going on, but I have had little time to write about it all. I just hope I can remember the important things now!

School is challenging, but I am still enjoying it very much. I only have six more classes, the last three of which are huge exams. Luckily I have Thanksgiving off and will have extra time to study. We are working on the muscular system. It is all very complicated and amazing! I still have an A in this class, and hope I can keep it through the last three exams. Early on I tried to tell myself that a B would be ok, but have since learned that the program is so competitive that it is really hard to get into without straight A's. So I spend a lot of time studying and so far it is working!

Tekronix has gone through another round of layoffs. Sadly Richard's group has shrunk again and the three of them that are left and now responsible for 24 hour monitoring of the data center, which lost ALL of its employees. Richard figures he has about six months of job security, which really is not very long at all. It is stressful for him at work now, and the worries do not end when he comes home at night. Big change is coming for us, but I know that whatever happens, we will be led to where we need to be. It is so comforting to have the gospel in our lives and to be able to turn to the Lord for comfort when things become so insecure. I recently read a book which said that life is full of challenges. It is how we respond to those challenges that is important. We are truly learning to see things in a better light. Rather than lamenting over the challenges sent our way, we can view them as a learning and a growing experience.

My sister Megan recently recommended the book "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. I read it in one evening, staying up until 2am to finish it. I highly recommend this book to everyone, no matter the stage of life you are in. It is all about getting out of debt, budgeting, and being prepared for college funds, financial emergencies and retirement. I was impressed by the steps he sets forth to become financially fit. I told Richard about it and he read it too, only taking a few days to finish. Due to our current predicament, the ideas in this book have come along at a great time. Aside from our house, we are not hugely in debt, our cars are paid for, but we do not have an overabundance of savings right now, that is for sure. We have set a monthly budget, and are sticking to it. We have started making weekly menus and buying only exactly what we need for those meals. We do not go out to eat or spend money on things we don't absolutely need. We dress in layers and have not turned the heat on except for a couple of times so far this fall. Gas prices have fallen, and this has saved us a LOT on our gas budget. To build up our emergency fund, we have been selling things we don't use or need anymore on Craig's list. Richard and I are working together towards something we truly believe in and it is working. It is not always easy, but it is very rewarding to see the results even after just a few weeks.

Now that I have talked about being responsible with our money, I have to admit we splurged, Richard took me to see Twilight, the movie. I read the series last year and really enjoyed it and was very excited to see the movie. We hit the matinee and skipped the popcorn, so it was somewhat affordable. We went to Cornelius theaters, and even though it was the first Saturday after release, there were only about a dozen of us there. It was nice not to be sitting elbow to elbow with strangers! It was fun and Richard even liked the movie! He probably won't read the books, and that is just fine. I am happy to be able to share the movies with him! I have heard from a few people that they were disappointed by the movie, but I really loved it! It was worth the wait, and I am looking forward to the next few movies!

I am looking foward to Thanksgiving, which is just around the corner. We are having it here at our house this year for the first time ever. We will have 9 adults and ten kids here. We have been working hard to get the play areas cleaned up and ready for major activity! I am looking foward to the long weekend with family! Richard will be on call this week, at least we won't have to leave him home alone for the big feast!